Nathan Myhrvold, Intellectual Ventures and Patent trolls

Heard this story when it originally aired. Myhrvold makes a good point - what he does should, IN THEORY, provide a way for inventors to monetize their IP should they lack other means. But that's NOT what IV does. They don't bring anything to market, and they have no intention of using any of the patents they own outside of the legal system. They simply shake other down others, sometimes small-time inventors, down for money.

The tragic thing about this is it doesn't have to be that way. People would look at Intellectual Ventures in a really positive light if it was actually doing lots of research, and sold access to its patents and charge for consulting. This would be a really interesting way to do things, and would actually be outsourcing research and providing a convenient way for companies in different areas to share patents. However, they are instead buying up patents and using shell companies to sue companies that have been operating for years and show no evidence of willful infringement. Another strike against them is their patents, they seem to love method patents which are way too broad and taking advantage of an overly generous patent office.

The tragedy of the patent dilemma is that it could be solved by just reforming the patent office, and making some slight adjustments.